HPMoR 113: A draft of solution
This post is about fanfic Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend at least trying it. In my opinion it beats the original, at least in some respects.
( Spoilers, obviously )
( Spoilers, obviously )
Comments 6
I was thinking of a mass distruction weapon that would not destroy Harry first, but couldn't think of any. This pen gun (had to google it) looks suitable, if Harry can manage lots of them. And it seems to be consistent with the foreshadowing from Ch. 1:
"Beneath the moonlight glints a tiny fragment of silver, a fraction of a line...
(black robes, falling)
...blood spills out in litres, and someone screams a word."
This tiny fragment of silver could be the wire you mention.
But who screams and which word? Have you thought of that? I believe a lot of people would feel like screaming at this point, but surely Harry is prepared and now that he can speak, he'll perhaps find an appropriate spell to use? I would scream "accio" to retrieve the stone, probably.
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You've never come across a pen gun? I must've seen a few mentions, even if some were in highly unreliable sources like spy thrillers and comedies :)
I haven't tried to fit my solution into Yudkowsky's plan. (keytaro_kun has named one good reason I don't need to bother :) )
But if I had, then I suppose the word must be relevant, so simple "Hermione" would not do.
One idea I had early when I considered killing Death Eaters before moving on to Voldemort: cast Lumos on Voldemort or his robes, to cause resonance.
I wonder if Harry can win not just the battle but the war by disabling Voldemort somehow without killing him. I've seen ideas like "transfigure part of his motor cortex" but they should be ineffective against someone capable of wordless wandless magic.
Will you try to develop your idea with negotiations? It would be really interesting to see what can Harry plausibly gain along this path.
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Well, I might have seen it, but then forgot it straight away. I am really not into James Bond type of fiction, I'm afraid.
That word must be very relevant indeed, otherwise a synonym to "Blimey!" would do just as well.
Lumos on the robes would be spectacular but hardly efficient. Disabling V. seems a bit more worthwhile (I considered it myself), but you have already pointed out the difficulties of transfiguration of a moving object.
I don't think I will develop it much further, because I really have to tear myself away from all this (enjoyable as it may be) and focus on some other issues. *sigh*
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Can't say I am... and now that I think of it, one of the Fantomas movies (with Louis de Funès) I saw decades ago featured cigar guns, not pen guns :)
> Lumos on the robes would be spectacular but hardly efficient
Why not? They are a product of Voldemort's magic.
Pity...
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